Bill Clinton's meltdowns

Dateline: Tue 27 May 2008

The former president is all over the news, again.

CNN Politics reports (in a story ABC News broke) that Clinton believes there has been a "cover-up" regarding his wife Hillary's campaign. The press is out to get her, "'And I have never seen anything like it. I have never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running.'"

Bill has officially lost it. His contention that his wife is really ahead and that the superdelegates have been bullied smacks of plain nuttiness.

Then along comes People magazine, with an exclusive interview with Bill, in which he allows that he sometimes gets "drunk mouth" (Gracie Slick's expression) late at night. Here are two of People mag's questions with Bill's response:

"Any way you could have handled things better?

The only thing I regret is saying any of this stuff late at night when I was tired, 'cause if you are tired or angry, you shouldn't be talking. We needed to give ourselves Miranda warnings.

"Is there anything you want voters to know?

When I was so tired, I either was not as precise as I should have been or I seemed angrier than I would have been. That's always a mistake. If I am to have any blame, that's it."

How bad has Bill Clinton's conduct and performance been? Bad enough that one young friend is convinced Bill is "sick" as the result of his heart surgery. This theory started with Clinton lovers after Bill's first foray into racial analysis in South Carolina, when he forecast that after all, Jesse Jackson won Carolina. It's a black thing, was the implication.

I tend to disagree that Bill's brain has been poisoned or oxygen-starved by his operation. He's fine: his stamina on the campaign trail, at least during daylight, proves it.

If he suffers from anything, it's the delusion that the Clintons are still superpowers, have been and always will be, liie God. He wants that Air Force jet back again (as another friend says). But it's not going to happen, and he and Hillary need to realize a cardinal rule: life is change.